Testing It Up

Even as the distribution of swine flu vaccine is ongoing across America, the number of deaths among young people due to swine flu continues to rise. This will probably give parents more reason to have their children as well as themselves vaccinated, or lead some of those who have initially elected to forego vaccination to have a change of heart.

The spike in the number of deaths has caused alarm since the rate is unusual, even for the flu season. In the past week alone, 19 deaths among children and teenagers were reported; this is said to be the highest pediatric death rate in a single week since the start of the swine flu pandemic last spring. Last week’s count has increased the total number of deaths of those under the age of 18 to 76 for this year, a high number compared to the 46 to 88 deaths due to seasonal flu per year among children over the past four years.

In total, more than 3,800 Americans have succumbed to complications associated with the flu, more often the H1N1 virus. This count includes at least 28 pregnant women.

While the government has already purchased 250 million doses of swine flu vaccine for distribution across the country, it is reportedly ready to purchase even more doses should more people choose to have themselves and their families vaccinated. According to recent surveys, only 40% of Americans intend to get the vaccine; vaccination is completely voluntary for most people.

While the illness brought about by the virus is essentially considered as mild, with some people recovering from it without the benefit of medication, there are those who can get seriously ill when struck with the virus. And the absence of pre-existing conditions such as asthma does not necessarily ensure a speedy recovery; some of the children who have died from swine flu reportedly used to be healthy prior to coming down with the flu.

The first wave of swine flu vaccines have arrived in the United States. The arrival of the vaccine coincides with the start of what is usually known as the annual flu season, although the level of activity at this time is reportedly already higher than what the country has seen in recent years, at least according to Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The good news at this time is that even if there seems to be a spike this early in the season, it does not necessarily mean that things will only get worse. It can very well be taken to mean that the season peak will be reached sooner and decline sooner as well; such is the unpredictability of the flu. For now, however, the reports are not very encouraging; according to the CDC, 27 states indicated widespread cases of the flu, mostly H1N1 related.

Two forms of the vaccine are expected to be shipped: one is injectable, and the other is in spray form. Twenty to twenty-five percent of the total available vaccine will reportedly be made up of the nasal spray FluMist which is manufactured by MedImmune, a unit of the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. There are over ninety thousand vaccination sites spread across fifty states, the District of Columbia, and eight territories of the United States.

According to the CDC, the vaccine is contained in one dose and ten-dose vials and transported by refrigerated trucks. Four distribution sites, the locations of which are not disclosed, receive cartons containing the vials; these sites are reportedly being run by McKesson Corporation, a health care company.

These are then packaged into 100-dose allotments using insulated packaging. Cold packs keep the vials in a temperature-controlled environment (35.6 to 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit) as they make their way to the various vaccination sites. If the vials do not remain at this temperature when they reach vaccination sites, they are returned for replacement.

Although we have been inundated by swine flu news and concerns since the summer, the annual influenza season officially starts today. Swine flu, however, has been around for quite some time and cases upon cases have already been identified and treated across the United States; this year reportedly marked the earliest flu season in the past forty years.

We have already shared with you the news that initial batches of swine flu vaccines are making their way to doctors in the United States, triggering the beginning of what is termed by a Bloomberg feature as “the country’s biggest influenza prevention program”. Nasal spray vaccine from manufacturer AstraZeneca Plc, about 600,000 tubes, is reportedly set to arrive Tuesday next week; between forty to fifty million more doses will be shipped the week after.

Priority for administration of the first batch of vaccines will be given to those who are most at risk, namely health-care workers, children, pregnant women and those afflicted with chronic conditions that place them at risk for complications. The CDC advises adults who do not belong to any of the above groups, as well as the elderly, to wait for additional supplies before getting vaccines for themselves. The prioritization seems to be based largely on data gathered from previous and existing swine flu cases, which seem to hit pregnant women and children the hardest. In contrast, the seasonal flu usually affects the elderly, mostly those who are over the age of 80.

Doses will be provided to individual states and they are given the liberty to decide how these initial doses are to be distributed, according to CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases head Anne Schuchat.

With the opening of the fall term last month, the number of cases increased, with potential 27,000 cases among students spread among college campuses reported by the American College Health Association. The onset of cold weather may also help spread flu, so hospitals are preparing for an onslaught of cases in the coming weeks.

With the release of the swine flu vaccine reportedly just days away, a survey conducted by a team at the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that a significant number of Americans are set on having themselves and their children vaccinated against the disease.

The survey was released Friday and indicated that more than 50% of adult Americans intend to get the vaccine themselves, while 75 percent intend to get the vaccine for their children out of more than a thousand respondents. In contrast, 40 percent of the respondents choose not to get the vaccine.

The study’s lead, Robert Blendon of Harvard, said in a Reuters report that these findings should serve as an indicator for public health officials regarding the level of preparedness that their respective offices should be at as they handle the demand for the vaccine once it becomes available.

An earlier survey report released by Consumer Reports, however, do not show nearly as much enthusiasm for the vaccine as did the Harvard report. In the Consumer Reports survey, only 35% of Americans intend to get vaccines for their children. If the Harvard report is an accurate indication of national opinion on the swine flu vaccine, then this means that more people intend to have themselves vaccinated specifically for swine flu as opposed to the seasonal flu.

Since the declaration of swine or H1N1 flu as a pandemic summer of this year, several companies have dived into the development of a vaccine for the disease, with the intent to manufacture and distribute later on. Even at the onset, countries such as the United States and Canada have placed orders for vaccines, with organizations such as the World Health Organization also stepping in and ensuring that vaccines will also be available for countries that cannot readily afford to acquire them.

The United States reportedly have a standing order of give or take 250 million doses of the vaccine from several manufacturers, including Sanofi-Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, among others. Twenty million doses of the vaccine will reportedly come in each week; these will be provided by the government for free although clinics and retailers may charge for their administration.

As of end of September, at least one manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, has sent the first shipment of injectable pandemic H1N1 vaccine to a Department of Health and Human Services distribution center.